In Nomine, Paradox and Musings...

[David Lewis]

That In Nomine For Dummies page linked in the ROTFL thread made a LOT of stuff in DW5 finally make sense for me! Who's betting that the temple is a tether based around love? I know who Jean is! And I understand why Paradox is even more testy then usual when it comes to their pantheon. That is some rather brilliant, but rather fuscked up stuff. And it also jogged my memory about a certain point people were wondering, on why the sisters are trying to hide Chris's own universe hopping escapades from him. I went back and check the story, and Urd mentions something about Chris stumbling on to his true divine nature before he's ready.
"If Chris realized the truth about the dreams he didn't remember, he might
try to access his full nature, whatever that was, before he was
ready, and only Kami-sama knew what the results of that would be."
I assume that this has means that his full manifestation is different, perhaps drastically so, from the standard inserting avatar system used by the rest of the gods. Perhaps he doesn't have a greater form or incarnations in other universes simultaneously, and has something similar to Hexe, where all of his power is sealed in one body, but he's unable to access a significant amount of it? Depending on which universe he's in, the seal will change slightly allowing him to access different power levels or forms? Hmmm... Maybe, but I don't think so, given that Bob's mentioned that Hexe has little more relevance to the story. So in what is the secret to Paradox's godhood? Does he not have a greater nature like the others? Or given his universe hopping exploits, does he have something greater? I'm dying to see how this turns out. Plus the way Paradox sort of briefly channels one of his experiences and then seems to instantly forget about it in DW5-2 says to me that we'll soon find out what the whole deal is, as he appears to be beginning to remember his jumps. Hmmm... Maybe kami-sama needed a champion or hero that he could exert a reasonable amount of control over? I mean with Doug, all the gods can really do is ask, "Please could you do this for me?" And given his general attitude to gods it's very likely he'd just say screw you and walk off. But kami-sama is in control of where Chris goes and what powers he has when he's there, and given his whole speech on how sometimes an man, not an incredibly holy champion but a least a relatively good guy is needed in the multiverse, he knows within a reason what Chris will do in a given situation. It also makes me think that he's using Chris as a kind of an agent of deniability , just so he can say hey, it wasn't me, I didn't FORCE him to do it, when Chris does whatever his task is in the other universe.
Anybody else have any thoughts along these lines?
Given that one page in particular started this particularly twisting train of thought in my head, I'd better link it. haru_in.tripod.com/INforDummies.html (Bear in mind this is just about In Nomine, and not Drunkard's Walk)

Anyway to wrap it up, most great props to both Bob and Chris on writing something that stimulates the mind and imagination so much. I apologise if I'm being in any way irritating or rude, but is there any more news on when the next chapter will be out? The series is so good and so full of ideas at just a two chapter mark that I have a serious feeling the whole thing will be simply cool as hell(or heaven).
Regards,
David Plywood Lewis

[Bob Schroeck]

Thanks for the kind words. At least one of your specific questions will be answered in the next chapter, and others will have more bits and pieces put into place. As for progress, there is a small italic subhead at the top of the main board menu that I keep updated with the byte count of the chapter. At the moment, Chris and I are in a back-and-forth revision on a couple of scenes, so the counter won't be going up dramatically for a little while, but trust me that we are moving. I don't want to give a target date, though, because I always get shafted when I do that. -- Bob
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I loot faster. -- Peggy Schroeck, D&D game, in response to a crisis situation that arises while she's searching the bodies of four recent opponents.

[David Lewis]

As far as i'm concerned, if it's half as good as what's come before, it'll be well worth the wait!

[Star Ranger4]

Heh. I dont start getting antsy until after the byte count exceeds 100. Then occasionally I'll make quips like "If it breaks 200, SELL!!!""I was an Otaku before those kids came along and changed the meaning of the word."
-- HM "Howling Mad" Wilson to more than one team-mate.
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children

[Bob Schroeck]

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As far as i'm concerned, if it's half as good as what's come before, it'll be well worth the wait!

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Thanks. I think we can guarantee you at least one or two good WHAM! scenes (and no, I don't mean Doug conjures up George Michael and his old partner... ).
-- Bob
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...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...

[Foxboy]

Aah! "This song's just/ Six Words Long!"
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[Bob Schroeck]

Um, no, that was a George Harrison parody.
-- Bob
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...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...

[Kokuten]

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...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...

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gah!
now I'm hungry.Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

[David Lewis]

....? So... confused.....

[Valles]

Everyone's a Super Hero; everyone's a soda jerk...

===============================================
"Puripuri puripuri... Bang!"

[Ebony]

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....? So... confused.....

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Look here, my son, and all questions will be answered.Ebony the Black Dragon
Senior Editor, Living Room Games
http://www.lrgames.com
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."

[Stephen Mann]

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As far as i'm concerned, if it's half as good as what's come before, it'll be well worth the wait!

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If you've enjoyed watching this just half as much as we've enjoyed doing it, then we've enjoyed it twice as much as you.

[robkelk]

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Everyone's a Super Hero; everyone's a soda jerk...

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No, no, no -- "Meta Human". (Warriors' World doesn't have the concept of "Super Hero"...)
"And here I had a crab rangoon / I think of you, and toss it slow..." (What, you thought it was a love song?)

-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Necratoid]

If Doug heard 'Six words long'... the version Weird Al did in an In Nomine universe (and he got the universe he was inexplained to him) he'd set off the End Times... or all the Superiors (and word demons) would death match until only 6 remained in total.
Ranks up there with playing Old English's 'Melt With You' in an Eva-verse.

[robkelk]

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or all the Superiors (and word demons) would death match until only 6 remained in total.

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Now there's an interesting idea for a campaign...
Obviously, Yves and Kronos have to be two of the six who survive, given their special ties to the Symphony, but which other four would make the cut? Liking the idea of balance, I'd go with one each from the peace and war factions on each side, so... hmmmmm... David, Eli, Baal, and Lilith, maybe? You can't get much more balanced that that group.
(As for tying this into DW V, maybe Belldandy could have a really bad dream, or talk about the possibility with Novalis? (No, Belldandy and Novalis are not the same being. Bell's far too willing to use force to be a Flower, let alone the Flower.))
-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Bob Schroeck]

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(No, Belldandy and Novalis are not the same being. Bell's far too willing to use force to be a Flower, let alone the Flower.)

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Quite right.
Belldandy is another aspect of the Being who manifests in the Judeo-Christian-Muslim "pantheon" as Khalid, Archangel of Faith.
-- Bob
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...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...

[Moonsword]

Well, now _that's_ an interesting idea. Somehow I can't see Belldandy as a raving Islamist nutjob... (Note: I said Islamist, not Islamic.)
I can understand the underlying themes, certainly. Bell is, by and large, a powerful statement of and inspiring force for both Faith and Hope. Still, the difference in personality is a bit more than I'd expect for them to both be expressions of the same underlying Divine Being. For that matter, IIRC, she routinely violates Khalid's dissonance conditions (constructively and for a good reason, I remind you, but the point is fairly clear).
You're right, though. She isn't pacifistic to be one of Novalis's servitors although she likely would get along them fairly well. Her personality isn't really a fit to how I see any of the archangels although, at times, it comes close to a bizzare cross between David and Novalis.

[Bob Schroeck]

Belldandy Khalid.
The easiest way to understand the way celestials work in the DW cosmology is to think of them as roleplaying characters, and each universe as housing one or more separate campaigns. (Although there may be many, many very similar characters in very similar campaigns...) Each celestial in a universe has a "player" -- a "metagod", who exists in a much higher-order reality. I should also note that in some universes -- like OMB! -- the "player" has several characters, and sometimes several "players" share a single character.
What I'm saying is that Belldandy and Khalid both have the same "player"; it does not follow that they have to have the same personality. Belldandy that player, likewise, Khalid that player, any more than your 12th level fighter or your favorite street samurai from Shadowrun are you.
-- Bob
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...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...

[Moonsword]

Ah, got it. That makes a lot more sense. The way I saw what you said originally was along the lines of same being, different pantheon, at which point Belldandy = Khalid gets kind of whacked...
This, though, is much less likely to cause spontaneous San checks.

[jpub]

For a fun exercise, try coming up with the In Nom equivalent of Paradox.
I have one in mind, but I'm curious what y'all come up with - and how you justify them.--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel

[Bob Schroeck]

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Ah, got it. That makes a lot more sense. The way I saw what you said originally was along the lines of same being, different pantheon, at which point Belldandy = Khalid gets kind of whacked...

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Well, yeah, if you try to draw that direct a connection, it does.
Mind you, the "player" tends to follow similar themes in all its "characters" -- thus the metagod behind Venus is going to be about love and/or sex in most if not all of the "characters" it plays. And one of the things Belldandy's about is certainly faith and fidelity -- in fact, Gryphon makes her the goddess of Fidelity in UF.
-- Bob
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...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...

[jpub]

And as said above, the OMB universe is rife with celestial beings. To be honest, if humanity runs out of food, they could feed of the celestials and infernals and have more than enough for a late night snack.
What that means is that while in another universe, a 'player' may have one, maybe two characters, in the OMB universe the player has DOZENS.
Edit: And sometimes multiple players have influence over the same character, just to make things really confusing.--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel

[Cobalt Greywalker]

Implying something there Mr Angel? 'Cause if you're implying what I think you're implying...

[Bob Schroeck]

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What that means is that while in another universe, a 'player' may have one, maybe two characters, in the OMB universe the player has DOZENS.

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Because, you see, they all sprang for "City of Demons" and got all the bonus extra character slots and decided to use them all...

-- Bob
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...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...

[Bob Schroeck]

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Implying something there Mr Angel? 'Cause if you're implying what I think you're implying...

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It certainly explains why all the many "faces' of Kami-sama seem almost schizophrenically different...
-- Bob
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...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...